That was the weekend that was: McManaman looks Barcelona bound

Rumours

STEVE MCMANAMAN'S impending move from Liverpool appears to in the direction of Barcelona. The People says he will turn down Chelsea because he does not want to join a rival Premiership side, while the Express reckons Real Madrid have decided to sign Red Star Belgrade's Perica Ognjenovic, another left-sided player, for pounds 2.1m instead. Both stories give credence to the Mail on Sunday's line that Barcelona have won the race and that McManaman will listen to Internazionale, Juventus and Roma only if the Barca deal hits a snag.

The News of the World, meanwhile, reckons Liverpool want Internazionale's Francesco Moriero, available for pounds 4.5m, as McManaman's replacement

While the People says the Nottingham Forest manager, Dave Bassett, is keen on Blackburn's Nathan Blake as a replacement for Pierre van Hooijdonk - assuming he finds a buyer for the latter - the News of the World reckons Bassett is wasting his time looking at any new players. They say he is for the chop, with Forest ready to turn to Ron Atkinson as the man to steer them to Premiership safety.

In their bid to land a new striker to fill in for crocked Nicolas Anelka, the People says Arsenal have lined up a pounds 6m swoop for Real Mallorca's Daniel Garca Lara, who uses the name Dani but is not to be confused with the former West Ham man. According to the News of the World, Arsenal are also looking at Celtic's 19-year-old Mark Burchill, who is out of contract in the summer.

Newcastle could face competition from Tottenham for Romanian midfielder Constantin Galca, valued at pounds 4m, according to the News of the World. The People says Tottenham have asked about Aston Villa's Mark Draper too. The same paper reports that Leeds will make a pounds 3m swoop for Celtic's former Bolton defender Alan Stubbs.

The Express says Ken Bates would dismiss Glenn Hoddle as England coach and bring back Terry Venables if he is elected FA chairman, although the People says Bates has "not a cat-in-hell's chance" of landing the top job.